"A serious illness is marriage's unspoken fear. The chances of a couple staying healthy together and dying at the same time are Las Vegas odds. Life is a dance you want to finish on the same beat."
~ Erma Bombeck


Erma was absolutely right, and she was the first to stumble in her marriage. She died at age 69 after an extended illness and complications from a kidney transplant.

It is a risk most of us choose to ignore, but Long-Term Care is one of the four major financial risks all of us face. Those risks are home fires, auto accidents, short-term medical care and Long-Term Health Care. The odds of our home burning down are 1 in 1,200, and the deductible is typically $500 to $1,000. The odds of having an auto accident are 1 in 240, and this deductible is typically $250 to $500. The odds of needing short-term medical care are about 1 in 5, and the deductible for medical care could be anywhere from $100 to $1,000.

Today the odds of a person over the age of 65 needing health care for an extended period of time, either at home or in a facility, are 57%, and seven out of every ten couples can expect at least one partner to enter a nursing home after age 65. But a survey conducted in the year 2000 says that two-thirds of Americans say they could not afford to pay for more than two years of care at a cost of $54,000 per year. In Michigan, that cost is now $74,000 per year. We all think, "It won't happen to me," but the shocking reality is that more than half of us will need Long-Term Care, either in our homes or in a facility, for a duration of two and a half years.

There are only three ways to cover the financial exposure of Long-Term Health Care.

• If you are wealthy you can self-insure.
• If you are impoverished, you will qualify for Medicaid and the government may pay for your care.
• A third choice is to transfer the risk to a highly rated financially sound insurance company.
  

For married couples, qualifying for Medicaid can be devastating for the spouse who is still at home, known as the community spouse. That person is left with little to survive on while trying to make sure the sick spouse gets necessary care. This situation is financially, physically and emotionally draining.

Why would anyone want to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars for care when it is possible to purchase insurance for only a fraction of that amount? The alternative to paying $74,000 per year is to pay insurance premiums of about $1,500 to $2,000 per year. Those who say they cannot afford those premiums may want to think again: it beats the alternative. Above and beyond the risk of asset loss is the inability to access top quality care at the appropriate level.

Long-Term Care can be received in one or a combination of different settings including your own home, an assisted living facility, hospice care center, Alzheimer's facility, a home for the aged, or foster care. Care could also be given by a licensed home health care provider in an adult day care center, and may include respite care. These types of care would be provided as professional or personal care.
 
Long-Term Care and nursing home are not synonymous. Today's Long-Term Care policies are actually designed to keep us out of a nursing home and a nursing home is always the last choice. The average duration of Home-Health Care is 4.5 years and any level of care you could possibly need can be received in your own home. Let's be at home with our families! That's is the beauty of Long-Term Care insurance.

Dorothy McMahon is a Long-Term Care Insurance Consultant. Reach her at (248) 844-9787 or LTCINSUSA@aol.com.